Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Western Civilization

The headline, with an Abbot involved, seemed to implicate me. And then a second article about religious intolerance made me wonder just what s0-called religious men fear about women (and female animals). And how is that fear related to a need to control? And then I remembered the mission statement of the grounds crew of Mormon BYU: "The grounds will be kept clipped and controlled." And then I thought about what Gandhi said when asked what he thought about Western Civilization: "I think it would be a good ideal."

Greek Abbot Jailed
Over Land Swap Scandal

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: December 28,
2011 at 12:13 PM ET

ATHENS,
Greece (AP) — Greek authorities on Wednesday
jailed the abbot of a 1,000-year-old Greek Orthodox monastery pending trial for
his alleged key role in a land swap with the state that blew up into a major
political scandal.

Investigators have
said the deal was weighted in favor of Vatopedi Monastery in northern Greece
and cost taxpayers about euro100 million ($131 million). Two ministers lost
their jobs over the swap, which the conservative government canceled,
acknowledging that it had hurt the public interest.

The scandal
nonetheless contributed significantly to the conservatives' 2009 general
election defeat.

Abbot Efraim, 55, was
led to Athens' Korydallos prison after spending the night in the capital's
police headquarters, following a 600-kilometer (370-mile) journey from the
Orthodox monastic sanctuary of Mount Athos — from which women and female
animals have been banned since 1046.

(Reuters)
- Israel detained an ultra-Orthodox man on Wednesday on suspicion of calling a
woman soldier a "whore" on a public bus for refusing his appeals that
she move to the back of the vehicle, a police spokesman said.

The
incident came days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to crack down
on acts of harassment by religious zealots, with the publicity surrounding
these cases risking upsetting his political alliances with ultra-Orthodox
parties.

Much
of the controversy has surrounded complaints by women against ultra-Orthodox
men trying to force them to sit separately in the backs of public buses in
deference to their religious beliefs against any mixing of the sexes in public.

Soldier
Doron Matalon said on Israel Radio that a devoutly religious man had approached
her and insisted she move to the back of a bus in Jerusalem earlier on
Wednesday, after she had embarked at a station near her military base.

"It
was very frightening," Matalon said, saying the incident was not the first
in which she had been asked to move to the back of a bus but that this time she
felt more defiant.

Matalon
said she replied to the man: "You can move to the back if you want. Just
like you don't want to see my face, I don't want to see yours." She added
that she was "serving our country, which unfortunately means I am also
defending you."

The
man responded by shouting at her "whore, go sit in the back," Matalon
said, adding that the driver later stopped the vehicle and police arrived.

Police
spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld confirmed an ultra-Orthodox man was taken into
custody and "questioned about his motives" for insulting the soldier,
but no decision had yet been made as to whether he would be charged.

Some
bus lines that serve predominantly religious neighborhoods in Jerusalem and
other cities have been segregated despite complaints from women's groups that
their civil rights were being violated.

Under
Israeli law women are entitled to object to sitting in the back, but they risk
verbal and physical abuse for refusing to do so.

Several thousand activists demonstrated in the city
of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on Tuesday against incidents in which
ultra-Orthodox zealots have spat at and insulted women and female children,
complaining they were immodestly dressed.

1 comment:

honestly scott,, I'm nauseous as I read of these totally barbaric incidents. I just dont get it...and I actually never have, nor will I,,,except to say this sort of idiocy has gone on for far too long....now the question continuing to nag me.....what am I going to do about it??

life's vision clouded with religious upbringing is a tool I must juggle....I must be careful not to take on the same sort of destructive communication style such fanatical individuals choose. And sadly enough...such stories remind me that all angry attitudes, regardless of stimulus, leave the same destructive scar whenever used...even when used in silence....

I will take my nauseous response to these reports and work to remember it whenever I get bitchy....